Neil Cohen

One election next week that has received virtually no attention: a special election for Neil Cohen's seat in the State Assembly.  Democrat Annette Quijano, who won a special election convention last summer after Cohen's resignation, faces Republican Linda Gaglione, a former Union Township school board member.  Expect Quijano, who has outraised Gaglione $52,175 to 0, to win this solidly Democratic district by  a wide margin.

Union County Republicans have chosen Union Township Board of Education President Linda Gaglione to challenge Assemblywoman Annette Quijano in the 20th Legislative Direct.

Gaglione unsuccessfully challenged State Sen. Ray Lesniak last year, getting 4,478 votes to Lesniak’s 9,760.  She was unanimously chosen to challenge Quijano at a county committee meeting on Tuesday night in Kenilworth. 

Quijano was recently sworn into office after being narrowly chosen by the Union County Democratic Committee last month to replace Assemblyman Neil Cohen, who resigned after child pornography was allegedly found on his legislative office computer.

Gary Schaer will replace Neil Cohen as Chairman of the Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance CommitteeAssemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) is expected to be named chairman of the Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee. The post became available in July when Neil Cohen resigned his Assembly seat after being caught with child pornography on his state computer.  A formal announcement from Speaker Joseph Roberts is expected to come later this afternoon.  

With jurisdiction over the banking and insurance industries, the committee is considered to be one of the most powerful assignments in the Legislature.  Schaer, a two-term Assemblyman, has a background and career in the financial services industry and has formed a solid relationship with Roberts.  For now, Schaer will retain his vice chairmanship of the Assembly Budget Committee.

The last time a legislator gave up his seat to run statewide, only to keep their old job after losing the primary, was in 1989.  Assembly Speaker Chuck Hardwick finished third in the race for the Republican nomination for Governor.  During the summer, Assemblyman Peter Genova decided not to seek re-election, paving the way for Hardwick to seek a seventh term.  Hardwick won, narrowly, but the Republican who was originally nominated for the open seat, former Westfield Mayor Ronald Frigerio, lost the general election to Union County Freeholder Neil Cohen.

Annette Quijano will resign her post as Assistant Counsel to Gov. Jon Corzine to take her seat in the State Assembly. She won a special election convention last night to replace Neil Cohen in the 20th district.  Quijano's election further reduces the number of minorities on the Governor's senior staff: he has not had an African American Deputy Chief of Staff since Jeanine LaRue left to take a job at Rutgers, and has not had a Latino Deputy Chief of Staff since Javier Inclan, who had replaced LaRue, resigned after testifying in the corruption trial of former Guttenberg Mayor David Della Donna.

Sources in Union County say Roselle Councilwoman Cecilia Dallas-Ricks did not muster enough support in Roselle to be a credible Democratic Party candidate and consequently will not be in nomination Tuesday night when the party votes for a successor to District 20 Assemblyman Neil Cohen (D-Roselle).

That sets up a showdown between Annette Quijano, assistant counsel to Gov. Jon Corzine; and Elizabeth Councilwoman Patricia Perkins-Auguste.

With Roselle out of contention, sources say Quijano is likely to summon more power-player support in a district where overall, registered Latino voters have a decided edge over African-Americans.

The governor’s assistant counsel has the backing of Union County Freeholder Director Angel Estrada and real estate agent and Hispanic party activist George Castro, both of whom retreated from their own pursuit of the vacated seat.

The Roselle Democratic County Committee voted Thursday night to support Councilwoman Cecila Dallis Ricks for the open 20th district State Assembly seat vacated by Neil Cohen. She won 17 votes, followed by 5 for Mayor Garret Smith. There were two abstentions, and fourteen County Committee members did not attend.

The front runner to succeed Neil Cohen in the 20th district State Assembly seat is Cecelia Dallis-Ricks, a Roselle Councilwoman, according to Democratic sources familiar with the special election convention. But most Union County Democratic leaders suggest that front runner status in this race could change quickly, since the only voter that really matters is State Sen. Raymond Lesniak. Lesniak has not yet endorsed a candidate, but has said he plans to support a minority candidate.

Assembly Deputy Speaker Neil Cohen resigned after state officials found child pornography on his office computer
Union County Democrats will meet next Tuesday at a special convention to elect the replacement for former Assemblyman Neil Cohen, who resigned his seat late last month after child pornography was allegedly found on one of his legislative office computers.

The replacement will be selected by the members of the county’s Democratic committee from the four towns that comprise Legislative District 20: Roselle, Elizabeth, Union Township and Kenilworth. But the endorsement by the district’s other two legislators – Assemblyman/Democratic State Chairman Joe Cryan and State Sen. Ray Lesniak -- will undoubtedly weigh heavily on the committee’s decision.

Among the local political players said to be interested in the post are Roselle Councilwoman Cecelia Dallis-Ricks; Union County Freeholder Director Angel Estrada; Elizabeth Councilwoman Patricia Perkins-Auguste; Elizabeth Councilman Manny Grova; Roselle Councilman and former Cohen Chief-of-Staff Jamel Holley and Roselle Mayor Garrett Smith, who has butted heads with party leaders in the past.